Calendar: Discussed the date in English and Spanish. Harper is the new calendar and meteorologist for this week. She put the numbers on the calendar, discussed the weather and pattern, and found the day of the week in Spanish. Harper read most of the Sight words without help. We then reviewed our numbers, Spanish and Sign language.

Fun Facts/Brainstorming: Reviewed what the children learned about Whales. The children told us what they know about an octopus. Discussed: What body part does an octopus have? Fun facts: Two of the octopus’s legs act more as legs, allowing it to walk across the sea floor and push off when swimming. The octopus also has the useful ability to regenerate a tentacle if it loses one. The common octopus is classified as a mollusk, which is a soft-bodied invertebrate with a shell. It has no skeletal structure but does possess a skull, which protects its brain. It also has a sharp beak and a toothed tongue called a radula, which it uses to pry open and drill into the shells of prey, like crabs and clams. Once it breaks into the shells, it may also inject a paralyzing poison into its prey. The octopus can employ several defense tactics. First method, pigment cells in the skin contract to allow for the camouflage abilities. They can also adapt the texture of their skin and their body posture to blend in seamlessly with their surroundings. The areas around their eyes, suckers, arms, and web may darken so the octopus appears more threatening. Their coloration also reflects their mood. Another defense tactic is flight. After releasing a cloud of purple-black ink, the octopus propels itself by funneling water from its gills at the top of its mantle through its siphon. It can reach speeds as high as 25 mph but cannot maintain this speed long. Octopuses are solitary animals who make their homes in rocks and coral or dig burrows.They leave the dens only to eat or reproduce. Soon after the eggs hatch, both the male and female octopuses die. They only live 12-18 months. Meanwhile, the hatchlings are carried by the currents, and they feed on plankton for 45-60 days. Only one or two of the hatchlings will survive to adulthood.

Creative Development: Discussed: Why do you think an octopus has so many arms? Asked what it would be like to dance around with no arms by holding both arms behind their back. Explained that an octopus actually uses 2 of its arms as legs to walk and jump off of the ocean floor. The remaining 6 are used like arms to grab, pull and push. We looked at the Octopus art they will be doing in afternoon centers.

Language and Literacy: Discussed: What shapes we see on an octopus. Then we searched around the room to find something that has circles and ovals on it. Made the letter “O” with our hands, mouths, arm and legs. The children even worked with a partner to make an “O”. We then looked through the dictionary to find more words that begin with the letter “O”. The children practiced writing the Capital and lowercase Oo on the wipe-off boards.

Science: Discussed: How does the octopus use its arms. Octopuses have been know to open lids, doors and even use different types of tools with their arms. Some even stack coconut shells and hide inside them for protection. Had the children put socks on their hands and experiment opening containers with lids.

Mathematics and Reasoning: Discussed: How do you think the octopus uses the suckers on its arms? Showed the children sticky objects and suction cups. Asked what do they try to do with them. Octopuses use the suckers on their arms for grabbing things, catching prey and moving around. The children rolled the dice and counted the dots that they turned up. They then counted out that many bingo chips “Suckers” and placed them on the Octopus legs. Each child had a turn to add “suckers” bingo chips to the legs of the octopus. We then counted how many suckers were on each leg.

Afternoon Centers: Center 1: Octopus Windsock- The children created their own octopus by using markers and eyes and then cut or tore the lines to create arms. They stuck stickers on the arms to create suckers. Then we taped the yarn at the top to make a windsock octopus. Center 2- My Little Journal: The children went to the Oo page and practiced writing their capital and lowercase Oo. Drew a large letter “O” on the page and made 8 octopus arms coming out of it. Drew a smaller “o” for eyes and suction cups.